General blog about music, sports, books, faith and the life of a regular dude trying to stay a little weird. With a lot of grace, I've been able to marry my best friend and she's the brains of this family of 6!

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24 March 2013

Stump Removal Experiment

At only a few dollars, this may be a great idea

I'm trying to remove some pine tree stumps from the front yard. Unlike other types of tree, pine doesn't try to regrow, causing you to need to 'kill' the roots. I'm such a FISCAL CONSERVATIVE (some say 'scrooge') that I want to avoid paying $10 per stump for someone to come and grind them down or paying to rent a stump grinder. Instead, I'm trying something Shannon found online...on Pinterest!!!

The 'article' suggested using Epsom Salt and water to prompt the stump to dry. This is interesting because Epsom salt can be used as an excellent fertilizer in small amounts (see details here).But with this heavy mix applied to be absorbed into the stump, the tree will dry out and decompose much quicker. Also, make sure to use Epsom salt as regular salt may contaminate the ground and kill off everything (this is an old trick used many times in history - an invading force would 'salt the fields' of their enemy to make the land worthless).

I started by cutting the stumps down to a height of 4-8" off the ground and then drilled 3/4" holes in the stumps - about 3 holes each stump. The drilling took a little patience and multiple differently-sized bits. You'd be surprised at how much liquid is stored in the 'meat' of the tree! After drilling the holes to a depth of approximately 6", it was time for the Epsom salt...and that's when I realized we were out of it.

Two days (and a trip to the store) later, I poured the Epsom salt into the holes and then added water - pouring carefully so the salt stayed in the holes. Then went back to each stump and added more salt to the holes. They say 'rain makes grain' but it knocks all the salt out of the holes in your stumps so I'm going to apply more salt today after church. I'll also update with pictures to prove whether or not the process works - and if I have to hear "I told you so" from a friend who said it would never work!